Handling of rod bundles or the like



Sept. 23, 1941. M. MORGAN ET AL HANDLING OF ROD BUNDLES OR THE LIKEFiled Aug. 4, 1939 INVENTORS w T 6 =5 3 L 4 H 7 i 4 v u r u l i i m fi nu m 6 0 Z 3 y 6 4 h 6 6 A "I "u u. H- n 1|!) Ha .Ilil kb 1 sun L rub /In! a .I. w 7 i 7 a v w N MW m a? 5% L H m Sept. 23, 1941. M. MORGAN ETAL 2,256,684

HANDLING OF ROD BUNDLES OR THE LIKE I Filed Aug 4, was 5 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORS MYLES MORGAN JOHN N. WHALEN ATTCRNEY Sept. 23; 1941.

,M. MORGAN ET AL 2 25 HANDLING OF ROD BUNDLES OR THE- LIKE 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 4, 1939' INVENTORS MYLEs MORGAN JOHN 1v.WHALEN BY Mg,

ATTORNEY Sept. 23, 1941. M, MORGAN ET 2,256,684

HANDLING OF ROD BUNDLES OR THE LIKE Filed Aug. 4, 1939 '5 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTORS MYLEs VMORGAN JOHN N. WHALEN ATTO RNEY Sept. 23, 1941. MORGANET AL 2,256,684

HANDLING OF ROD BUNDLES OR THE LIKE Filed Aug. 4, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 5INVENTORS 'MYLES MORGAN JOHN M WHALEN ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 23, 1941iLUNil .ifST OFF-I '-2,256,684 V I HANDLING-- OF R01) BUNDLES- ORQTHELIKE =-Myles *Morga n, Worcester, and John N. Whalen,

BoylstomMass; assignors -t Morgan G'onstruc-:tion'"Oompanmtworcester;Mass.,.a corporation 1' bis Massachusetts -'Aipli.cation"Au ust4, waafseriiar no: 288,39 I. 8 Claims. (01;: 198*.20)

This, inventionrelatesto the handling .of rod .-bundles or the like, 2'and more particularly to. the construction: .andarrangement. ofapparatus for aremoving coiled rod bundles and similar annuli -from.amovingconveyor.

into-annular.- bundles which i are .placed on. a. .coil .conveyor. and.then transferredto .a .so-called hook. car rier.which"comprises-,aseries of. sus- ;.pendedhooks upon-which ,thebundles arehung,

'- withtheir. axes substantially horizontal. These hooks. travelcontinuously. at a rather slowspeed. awhile various' mechanisms havebeen proposed heretofore for removing. the; bundles from ....the

hooks. these, prionarrangements have, .in general.

.-be en complicated, expensiveand. unreliable, with 1 a tendency -.to.disarrange the, convolutions of. the bundles. ,Consequently it is@still. .the common lpracticestomutilize .manual labor for thislopera--.tion.

It isaccordingly ,thevmain object. of thepresent invention toprovide,.in combination.with ..a hook carrier, a. simple. inexpensive,-.and dependable apparatus. for. removing rod. bundles or. 1 similar.annuli therefrom.

Hbine "with. a .hook.,..carrier..a .mechanism..of .a ruggedand.dependable. nature. arranged: to remove rod bundles .or,.similar.-annuli -therefrom andto place themlin groupsadaptedtofacilitatesubsequenthandling. I

I With .ithese. and. other. objects. in. view, .as ,will "beapparentto.those...skilled. in .theflart, the inv vention. resides .inthe. combination. 0t parts set i-forthuin th specification. and.covered. by. the.

"Fig; 4- is a section onflthe line. 4-54 .01 Big. 1;

Fi 5 isa section on'flthe. 1ine;.5,15,,of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 isawiring'diagram; .F ig:'7 is .a section on-theJinej l-.- of 1?ig. 1;

1' Fig; 8 .is a view of a p ortion.of Fig. 3, showing adifferentpart ofthe cycle; and

Eig1'9 is a view similar to. Fig. 8 showing a still ,difierent partofthe cycle.

' The: embodiment illustrated comprises a hook :carrier. 15' ('Eigs.',4and. 5).. including, a series 02 5 1 an, apparatus for.

.hooks i6, oiwhichonlyetwo are. shown. These hooks are. arranged to.movein a. substantially horizontal .pathhand in, theparticularconstructionJshown. in the. drawings theirpoints extend e.inthedirection. ofjtravel. For this purpose ,each ,iIn rod zmills itisthev praoticeto coil .,the. rods hook, is suspendedwfrom .a bracket11', thereabove which ,is provided ,with. a wheel. l9 arranged .to rolll .a10nga, .horizontal rail .20. .A horizontal QfleXibIe cable. 2 l.extends .beneath. and .parallel' to 'the'rail, this. cablev beinsuitably connected to ,.,the brackets. The cableismoved longitudinally.by any. suitable,.,,and well-knownmeans. The hooks! 6 serve to. support.bundles B of wirerod, .or. similar annuli, w hi ch depend from the hooksin a. wel1- known m'anner withtheinaxes substantially horizontal.

, ,When .thebun-dles reach apredetermined location1 they, are removed,fromth'e hook carrier. by an automatic mechanism. which ,serves to,lift 20.

them upwardly and then move 1them axially at,a

7 speed suliicient. to avoid interference iwi'thflthe hooks, whereupon.they may. be lowered and deed.. .n. a su table recepta l For thispur-1.25 It .is a .furtherobjectlof the finventionlto com pose 'there,,-is;proyided 'a..transfer. device in the form of an; L- sh ap ed cradle 23Iocatedbeneath the pathof'. theiihqoks and comprising a an up- I rightback-rest Mend apairof'laterallyspaced ..parallel. armsj25 which extend.in the samegenheralcdirection as the pointsof therhooks l 6. The

, verse to the ,axes .of .the bundles, The back-rest '24 is cutawaycentrally at 29.,to

arms'l25' joinytthe; lower portion of theba'ck-rest 24. atsubstantiallya right angle, and the cradle is pivotallysupported nearthis. junction point on a horizontal pin 2! which is connected at itsopposite ends to a pair oiparallel cranks28 arranged to rotate about ahorizontal axis transavoid interfer- Inaddition to, thecircularmovementwhioh is of the cranks 28 .andarranged to rotate about an .laxisparallel to the axis. of the .cranks 28. The

lowercrank, 30* has asomewhat smaller radius than the upper cranks; and.it carries on its free 'enda;;block"-3| which is" free. to turn thereonabout an axis parallel, to the crank axis. The

.block' 3| is provided with an aperture therethrough, to receive arod133'forming adownward extension of an arm 34 which projects down-..wardly from the. cradle 23. During the rotation of the cranks the rod33 slidesthrough the-block 3} and the. bl k. imparts, the. desiredoscillating which is connected thereto by a suitable speedreducing unit49. The rotatable cranks and the gears associated therewith are shownmounted in a supporting frame 4|.

, opposite side of As indicated in Fig. 4, clockwise rot ation of thecranks 28 and 30 will causethe cradle 23 to move upwardly beneath thebundle B, the arms 25 first engaging the bottom of the bundle to lift itfrom i the hook l6.

As the crank rotation continues the back-rest 24 will move into contactwith the. surface of the bundle which is remote from the point of thehook, and the bundle will be carried axially and downwardly until it isdeposited in a receptacle shown as a trough or guideway 43 which extendstransversely of the axes or: the bundles. Thebottomof this trough isnotched'at 44 (Fig. 1) to allow the arms to pass'downwardlytherethrougliwithout interference, leaving the bundle in theft-rough.Preferably one wall 45 of the trough is" inclined slightly so that thebundles may leanj against the same, as shown in'Fig..4., Re-' ferringnow ,to Figs. 1 and '7, it will be seenthat the trough '43 slopesdownwardly from its receiving end,'so thatthe bundles will rollalong'the trough until they are stoppedby a wall 41 extending across thelower end thereof.

.Preferably the cradle 23 remains stationary in f the position shown' infull lines in, Fig. 4 until one of the hooks l6 arrives, whereupon thecranks 28 and 39 are turned through one revolution and "'thecradle.serves to remove the bundle from the i hooki This is preferably broughtabout by automatic means arranged to start and stop the motor 39*at'theproper times Forthis purpose each bracket IT! on the hook carrier isprovided with a camplate 49 arranged to engage and close a norm'ally'open limit switch 50 when the hook reaches the unloading position. Asshown in Fig. 6, the

limit switch 50 is connected in series with a coil contacts 54 which inturn control theenergization of'the motor 39 from a source 55 ofelectric current. These parts are so arranged that whenfthe switch 50 isclosed by the cam plate 49, upon 7 arrival'of a hook Hi, the coil 5|will be energized,

closing contacts 54 and starting the motor 39.

' The cradle 23 will thus be actuatedandthe bun- ,dle will beremovedfrom the hook. and placed in the trough 43.; In order thatthecranks 28and may continuetheir movement after the cam plate '49 has passed thelimit switch 50, and then come to rest when they have completed onerevolution,.we provide a normally closed limit switch upon open.Consequently when the switch 58 is opened the coil-5| will bedew-energized, and the motor 39 will stop.

'. After reaching the lower end of the trough 43, the bundlesare'removedtherefrom and arranged 'in groups adapted to'facilitate" their furtherhandling. For this purpose there is provided a conveyor 6! located closeto the trough and at the rear side thereof. This conveyor comprises aseries of spaced parallel horizontal bars 62 arranged in pairs to formsupports for groups of bundles. These bars are mounted on two endlesschains 63 which pass around sprocket wheels 65 'carred by a pair ofhorizontal rotatable, shafts 65. One of the shafts 66 is connected bysuitable gearing 6'! (Fig. 1) to an electric motor 69. At thetheconveyor Bl from the trough 43 there is provided a stationary uprightplate 18 which is inclined slightly away from the conveyor. This plateis formed with a series of notches H therein which extend downwardlyfromthe' upper' edge of the plate, these notches being spaced apart adistance corresponding to the spacing of the successive pairs of bars62.

; Means. is provided to remove the bundles from thelower end of thetrough 43 and arrange them in groups, on the conveyor bars 82." As shownparticularly in Figs. 1, 3 and 7-, the bottom of the trough 43 is cutaway near the wall 41 to receive a tray 13 so located that the bundleswill rest thereon after they have rolled alo nglthe trough into contactwith the wall 41. This jtray is'arpose the tray is mounted 'on thefrontend of a '15 (Figf 1). A par horizontal cylinder 7 v v movedlongitudinally. This cylinder is supported by two pairs of guide rolls15 mounted in brackets 'tition 18 (Fig. 3) extends across the cylinder,and a piston T9 is mounted within the cylinder in'the rear of thispartition,

" the piston having a-pistorirod .88 which extends tionary bracket 8 lrearwardlyv therefrom and connects with a sta- In order to controlthemovements of the-cylinder 14, a manually operable four-way valve 83 is,provided, this valve'being 1 connected by .a flexible tube 84 to the"rear-end of l he cylinderand b a fieXible u 35 {GO-the I 83, a bundlecan be transported on the tray 5f across a source 53of electric current,this "coil being arranged'to control apair of normally open cylinder ata point immediately in the rear of the partition 78. This valve 83 isprovided with an exhaust pipe 81 and an inlet pipe 88, theflatter beingsupplied with 'a'suitable fluid such as compressed air. By properactuation of the valve a position'over the conveyorbars-BZ. 3

""In order to remove the bundlesfrom the tray and deposit them on thebars 62; we provide'a pusher 98whichis located immediately in front ofthe cylinder 14 and connected by r I a rod 9| to a piston 92 within thecylinder and in front of the partition 18. The movements of the pusher99 are controlled by a manually operable four-way valve 94 whi'ch isconnected by a flexible tube 95 'tothe front end of the cylinder 14 andby a flexible tube 96 to the cylinder at a point immediately in front ofthe partition 78. This valve 94 is ,provided .with an exhaust'pipe 98and an inlet pipe '99, the latterbeingsupp-lied withcompressed Jair orany other suitable fluid under pressure. "By means of the Valve 94 it ispossible toadvance 1 13 in a desired manner,

parent from the above disclosure; As each book and withdraw the pusher99 relative to thetray The operation oftheinventioln nowbe apllire'achesthe unloading station, the cam plate 49 will engage thelimit switch 50and close the same, thereby energizing'fthe ,coil 51. This will closethe contacts'54, 'startingthe motor-'39 and turning the cranks 28 an'd38 in a. clockwise direction as Tvie'wedin Fig. .4. As soon as the camplate 59'ha's'cleared the switch'58, thisswitch which isfarranged' to ber thebunclle will be deposited in supported-by the wall I V the slope ofthe trough-the bundlewill immediengaging the bottom ot the bundle-tolift'it from the hook and the =backrest- 2 4' tipping forwardly toengage the rear of the bundlei Thespeedof movement of the cradle" is somuchgreaterthan the speedof the hook that :the bundle will be carriedforwardly-and thenlowered into the trough 43 --without interferencewiththe hook.

' The -a-rms will--passdownwai-dly through the notches 44 the bottombfthe trough; so that 45; thereof. Eecausebf ately' roll downwardly? alongthe-same until it 4 rests on the tray- 13. Infth meantime; and be-"fore. the cranks-have completed one revolution, 1 thecam'plate 49 willhave cleared-the limit switch .5!) and allowed this switch to open. Thiswill not stop the motor, however, since the coil will be supplied withcurrent through the switch 53.

Upon'completion of -the cycle, the cam plate 59 will open the limitswitch 58, de-energizing the coil 5!, opening the contacts 5 andstopping the motor 39. Upon arrival of the following hook N5 the cyclewill be repeated.

As soon as the bundle has rolled along the trough 43 to the tray 73, thevalve 83 will be turned ninety degrees, as shown in Fig. 8, admittingair through the tube 85 and exhausting air through the tube 84. Thiswill move the cylinder i4 and tray 13 forwardly over the conveyor 6|,whereupon the valve 94 will be turned ninety degrees, as shown in Fig.9, admitting air through the tube 95 and exhausting air through the tube95. This will cause the piston 92 and the pusher 99 to advance relativeto the cylinder M, thereby pushing the bundle off the tray 73 and intocontact with the wall It, the bottom of the bundle resting on two of thebars 62, which remain stationary during this phase of the operation. Thevalve 83 will now be turned to its orignal position, admitting airthrough the tube 84 and exhausting air through the tube 85, therebywithdrawing the cylinder 14 and the tray 13. The valve 94 will then beturned to its original position, admitting air through the tube 95 andexhausting air through the tube 95, thereby withdrawing the piston 92and the pusher 9E! until the parts once more occupy the positions shownin Fig. 3. When the next bundle reaches thetray 13, the valves 83 and 94will again be actuated. This bundle will be deposited against the firstbundle and in axial alignment therewith. This mode of operation will becontinued until bundles have been placed along the entire length of onepair of bars 62, whereupon the motor 63 will be started and the conveyor6! actuated until the group of bundles is in line with the next notch TIand the following pair of bars are in position to receive bundles fromthe tray 13, when the motor 69 will be stopped. In this manner groups ofaxially aligned bundles are formed on the conveyor BI and they canreadily be removed therefrom by well-known means. For example, a hairpinhook I00 (Fig. 2) may be suspended from an overhead crane and insertedinto the center of the bundles through one of the notches ll.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a hook carrier having a the trough and aseries ofsuspended travelinghooks arranged-to series of suspended-traveling:hooks-x arranged. .to convey rod bundles or similar annuli, an L-shapedcradle located beneath the. path loftlthe hooks, the cradle includingzan up right backerest, and. .actuating means; arranged-"to :inovei the.cradle. up-

wardly and into I engagement "with eachbundle from the sidethereo'fawhich is remote-from the point (if-the hook to remove thebundle from its hook, said actuating means i thereupon .;moving t'hecradle with the bundl thereon away from the hook and then ='downWa1-dly,the :backeres't' being cut awaycentrallyto'avoid interference with thehooks 1 during the removal :of the bundles therefrom. I

I 2. In combination with a hook carrier having convey rod bundles orsimilar-annuli, an L-shapecl cradle located beneath the pathOf-thehooks, the cradle including an arm which extends in'the samegeneral-direction as the points of the hooks, a I receptacle "locatedadjacent the cradle, and actuating-means arranged tomove the cradle up--wardly and into engagement with. each :bundle from-the i side thereof:which is remote from. :the

\ point of the hookaiandcauseithe arm to support the bundle from beneaththe same, said actuating means thereupon moving the cradle with thebundle thereon away from the hook and then downwardly, the receptaclehaving a notch formed therein and so located that the arm will passdownwardly through the notch and the bundle will be deposited in thereceptacle.

3. In combination with a hook carrier having a series of suspendedtraveling hooks arranged to convey rod bundles or similar annuli, anL-shaped cradle located beneath the path of the hooks, the cradleincluding a pair of laterally spaced parallel arms which extend in thesame general direction as the points of the hooks, a receptacle locatedadjacent the cradle, and actuating means arranged to move the cradleupwardly and into engagement with each bundle from the side thereofwhich is remote from the point of the hook and cause the arm-s tosupport the bundle from beneath the same, said actuating means thereuponmoving the cradle with the bundle thereon away from the hook and thendownwardly, the receptacle having two spaced notches formed therein andso located that the arms will pass downwardly through the notches andthe bundle will be deposited in the receptacle.

4. In combination with a hook carrier having a series of suspendedtraveling hooks arranged to convey rod bundles or similar annuli, atransfer device located beneath the path of the hooks, and twocrankshafts of different radii rotatable about parallel axes extendingtransversely of the axes of the bundles,the transfer device beingpivotally connected to one crankshaft and both pivotally and 'slidablyconnected to the other crankshaft, the two crankshafts imparting acombined rotational and oscillatory motion to the transfer device tocause the same to remove the bundles from the hooks.

5. In combination with a hook carrier having a series of suspendedtraveling hooks arranged to convey rod bundles or similar annuli, twocrankshafts of different radii rotatable in the same direction aboutparallel axes extending transversely of the axes of the bundles, and atransfer device pivotally connected t the crankshaft of the largerradius and both pivotally and slid-ably connected to two crankshaftsimparting a combined rotational and oscillatory motion to the transferdevice to the other crankshaft, the

cause the hooks and including'an upright back rest, mean's to move thecradlein a generally circular path about an axis extending transverselyoi-the axes ofthe bundles, the movement of the cradle being suchthatwhile in the upper portion of'its path it will travel in the generaldirection toward which the hooks are pointed, and means to oscillate thecradle in synchronism with its circular movement so that the back-restwill swing into contact with each bundle after it has been lifted fromthe hook, the continuedmovement of the cradle serving to carry thebundle axially and downwardly.

7; In combination with a hook carrier having a series of suspendedtraveling hooks arranged to convey rod bundles or similar annuli, anL'-*sh'aped cradle located beneath the path of the hooks, the cradleincluding an upright back-rest and. an arm which extends in the samegeneral direction as :the point of the hooks, andactuating meansarranged to move the cradle upwardly to bring the arm into engagementwith the bottom of the bundle and the back rest into engagement with theside of the bundle which is remote from the point of the hook, therebylifting the bundle from the hook, said actuating means thereupon movinthe cradle with the bundle thereon away from the hook and thendownwardly. a

8. In combination with a hook carrier having a seriesof suspendedtraveling hooks arranged to convey rod bundles or similar annuli, anL-shaped cradle located beneath the path of the hooks, the cradleincluding an upright back-rest and an arm which extends in the samegeneral direction as the points of the hooks, and means to move thecradle in a substantially circular path about an axis extendingtransversely of the axesof the bundles, the arm engaging the bottomsurface of each bundle and the back-rest engaging the sidethereof whichis remote from the point of the hook to thereby remove the bundle fromthe hook.

MYLESMORGAN. JOHN N. WHALEN.

